Bard of Avon

By Debra Dobbins

Frank and Earnest always deliver the most wonderfully horrible puns.

Today, they are leaving the Globe Theatre, where many of William Shakespeare’s plays were performed. Visitors to London may still see a modern version of the Globe, not far from the banks of the Thames River.

The pun is based on the wrestling phrase, “no holds barred.” If you think of cage wrestling, you get a fair idea of what that means.

Shakespeare was a bard, a poet among poets. He is best known, though, for his plays, both comedies and tragedies.

According to Wikipedia “His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.”

Shakespeare is often called the Bard of Avon because his birthplace was Stratford-on-Avon.

A prolific writer, he popularized scores of phrases in the English language. Here are just a few:

Brevity is the soul of wit
Fight fire with fire
Foul play
Heart's content
I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
Love is blind
Star crossed lovers
There's method in my madness
Woe is me

Still another phrase of his comes in quite handy in wrapping this entry up: All's well that ends well.